4 ways to use Google Trends to improve your site's visibility
4 Ways to Use Google Trends to Take SEO Content to the Next Level
Google Trends is one of those platforms that SEO content writers often overlook. And that's a shame.
First of all, it is a completely free platform. More importantly, it's where you'll find data based on actual search volumes.
Paid SEO tools usually provide stable estimates from different data providers. I'm not saying it's useless - not at all! They provide more than search volume data, so paid tools are always a good thing in your SEO arsenal.
But if you want more data (and more accurate data), try pairing information from the paid SEO tool of your choice with a few Google Trends queries.
Not sure where to start? Here's how to use Google Trends at my SEO content writing agency:
1. Find out how your keyword or main topic is going in the future
SEO is a long-running game. Unless you're optimizing for time-sensitive content (like a new app release or news), you want your article to rank high for years to come. But the volume of research is important here as well.
So find out if what you are going to write about will be of interest in the future. For example, since I work in SEO, I might be interested in my industry outlook:
Last year, there was growing interest in this term. Although SEO is by no means a new concept, it's good to know that it can still generate interest. More interestingly, you can see how SEO handles a well-known "competitor" industry, such as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising:
2. Compare keywords or interest in topics
When working on new topics for my agency's blog, my team and I often have to decide whether we should add SEO to the mix or commit to content writing or copywriting in general. Google Trends can shed some light on what our audience cares about the most.
This 5-year overview clearly tells me that there is more interest in content writing than SEO content writing:
Now you can say that the choice is obvious. But keep in mind that search volume isn't everything. If keywords related to writing SEO content have more business value, I can definitely live with less traffic but more meaningful. What matters here is that interest in them seems constant.
That's why it's important to check Google Trends constantly. As marketers, we need to know if the products or services we sell are starting to lose strength. Remember DVDs? Fewer and fewer people do:
This is what the demise of the product looks like. Google Trends can let you know before it's too late.
3. Research related topics and related terms
Yes, you can do this in simple and old Google search as well. But Google Trends adds data to this information. You can find out which search terms are most popular and other topics commonly associated with your terms.
This can help you plan your long-term SEO strategy, as well as the current part of your content. The Related Inquiries section can be a gold mine for an SEO writer if used correctly. For instance, you can convert all relevant queries into cross-translations thus increasing your chances of ranking higher for a wide range of keywords.
More importantly, the results marked as "breakout" have recently seen a significant increase in the frequency of search, usually due to being new topics or due to recent changes in the field. This is another opportunity you shouldn't miss.
4. Learn where to focus your promotional efforts
Content writing is very popular in a few cases:
In other countries, people seem to be almost uninterested in the topic. If I were to promote my articles about writing content on social media, for example, why would I waste money on audiences that don't care what I'm trying to sell?
But even if you don't plan to use paid ads to promote what you write, you can use this information to improve your articles. Let's say you already have a well-arranged article on a popular topic in Kansas, like mine. You can add some references to the state or some elements of local pop culture to attract a more Kansas audience.
Final Thoughts
Google Trends is a great way to start searching your topic and keywords. In fact, with a little experience with the platform and in your industry, you may not need any other tool to help you with an SEO plan.